One-Pan Garlic Herb Chicken Asparagus with Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Ever bite into a meal so good that you are immediately happy knowing you get to eat it for lunch everyday that week? If the answer is yes, then you are doing meal prep and eating right! (And probably making some of the recipes I've posted ;-)... like this one!) This is the kind of recipe that your friend who "never uses recipes" makes. Real simple ingredients, real easy, real quick. I busted out the cast iron skillet for this one and doubled the recipe below to get at least 8 servings for the week. While I was making the chicken I had the sweet potatoes roasting in the oven, so time in the kitchen was efficient! Now I do have to point out that when I first started meal prepping I used to avoid recipes that called for ghee, simply because I didn't have the ingredient and I didn't want to pay for it. Fast forward a couple years later and now I'm using it all the time and wondering why I didn't try it earlier. For those who are wondering what ghee is, it's just clarified butter, which means it is butter with all the milk solids removed (so it's free of lactose and casein protein). This creates a higher smoke point and also gives it a nutty, more rich and intense flavor. It's not hard to make by yourself, but you can purchase it at the store as well. I mention all of this because I recommend trying ghee out if you haven't yet and I definitely recommend using it in this recipe if you can! 

One-Pan Garlic Herb Chicken Asparagus
Ingredients:

• 3-6 chicken thighs or boneless skinless chicken breasts (breasts pounded to even ½ inch thickness)
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 pound asparagus, ends trimmed
• 3 tablespoons ghee, divided (or coconut oil)
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• ½ teaspoon dried basil (see note below)
• ½ teaspoon dried oregano
• ½ teaspoon dried thyme
• ½ teaspoon onion powder
• salt and pepper, to taste
• fresh herbs for garnish (optional)

Directions:

1. Season chicken with salt and pepper on both sides. Melt 2 tablespoons ghee in a large pan/skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in garlic and herbs and cook another minute or so until the garlic is fragrant.
2. Reduce heat to medium, add chicken to pan, and cook for 5-7 minutes, then flip and cook another 5-7 minutes. (Chicken should be nearly, but not completely cooked through by this point)
3. Scoot the chicken over the sides and add remaining 1 tablespoon ghee to the empty portion of the pan. Once the ghee is melted, add asparagus. Season asparagus with salt and pepper, to taste. Cook, rotating throughout, for 4-6 minutes until tender and chicken is completely cooked through.
4. Serve immediately garnished with freshly cracked black pepper and fresh herbs if desired.

Notes:
In place of the dried basil, oregano, and thyme, you can use about 1½ teaspoons dried Italian seasoning.

Original recipe found here

My Roasted Sweet Potatoes
Ingredients:

• 4-6 Sweet Potatoes (Depending on how much you want to make. 5 medium sized sweet potatoes usually gets me 6 oz of sweet potato fries for 6 meals. I think my idea of medium sized is bigger than most though.)
• Olive oil spray
• Sea salt (I love using Garlic Sea Salt!)
• Optional: Cinnamon, Paprika, any other Spices

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees
2. Skin and cut the sweet potatoes into whatever shape you want. I either do fries, wedges or circles.
3. Spray baking pan with olive oil. Lay down sweet potato fries flat (do not just dump a pile on the pan).
4. I fill my Misto with olive oil and lightly spray the fries, then add some sea salt (or whatever spices you enjoy).
5. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Take out of the oven and move them around or flip them over. Bake for another 15-20 minutes.
6. Keep an eye on them, if they are thin bake for less time, and vice versa. Key is to move them around or flip them over half way through baking them. I usually make mine thicker, so I bake them for at least a total of 40 minutes.